Sarah Han - Church Visit #3

Church name: Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church

Church address: 36 N. Ellsworth, Naperville, IL 60540

Date attended: March 24, 2015

Church category: More liturgical

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

I attended the morning mass at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church. It was a half hour service that included celebration of the Eucharist. Because the main cathedral was being renovated, the morning mass was held in the fellowship hall. I was disappointed when I found this out because I had been hoping to see the worship space in the cathedral, which has beautiful stained glass windows, an intricately decorated altar, icons, and a high ceiling. From images on the website and a look through the windows into the dimly lit sanctuary, I can tell that the meaning-infused worship setting is very different from the sanctuaries I worship in which more often resemble an auditorium or theater. The importance of specific symbols of worship such as body posture was more overtly important in this service. Although the churches I am used to going to also have some expectations of standing and sitting during different parts of the service, there was a greater reverence and significance that seemed to be attached to outward signs of worship. These included bowing toward the altar and before receiving the Eucharist, the position of the hands in a sign of blessing during the passing of the peace, and holding hands palms together or palms up during different parts of worship.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

I found the whole concept of morning worship compelling, especially in the liturgical style of worship. Repeating the same words every morning has the potential to become routine and lose its meaning, but it also has the potential to allow for deeper meditation on words of worship that have survived centuries. I think the act of taking communion each morning is appealing because it is a daily reminder of Christ’s salvific work and our place among God’s people. I found the postures of worship very interesting because of the way they can serve as outward symbols of an inward attitude and inclination. At the service I attended, there was a man with special needs who would make comments aloud throughout the service, responding to the priest. I found it interesting the way in which this went against the expected adherence to the liturgical unity of speaking and the effect it had on the service.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

I was surprised by how out of place I felt in this service even though the liturgy itself was familiar. Having studied the Eastern Orthodox church and visited a number of Orthodox and Catholic services over the past year, I have grown familiar with the style of liturgy as well as the theological place of icons and so on. However, while visiting morning mass, I felt out of place for a number of reasons. One reason is that I did not fit the demographic of worshippers there. I was at least a generation younger than everyone else and of the ~80 worshippers there, I was one of the few non-white individuals there, the others being an elderly couple that was ethnically Asian. Even more then the demographic difference, I was very aware of the fact that I was not a part of the Catholic Church, especially during the celebration of the Eucharist. While all the other worshippers went up to partake in communion, I sat in my chair, extremely aware of this sign of not belonging.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

Visiting mass reminded me of the importance of having deep reverence for God. From the physical outward posture of worship to speaking and chanting the rich liturgical text, this service highlighted the worship that God deserves. Being in a Catholic service reminded me of passages in the New Testament when Jesus and Paul urge followers of Christ to be united. The reminder of the disunity that we live in was highlighted by the fact that I was not permitted, as a Protestant Christian, to partake in communion. While I know that this divide is theologically and historically complicated, it made me wish there was an easy, obvious way to bring about unity among those who claim to follow Christ. Since the Wheaton in the Holy Lands program, I have wondered what unity would look like between the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant church and this church visit brought these questions back to the front of my mind.